Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro

Directed by: Michael Bay

Reviewed by: Conor Flynn






As a long time Generation One Transformers fan, the live features have always been fairly problematic for me, but none more so than the second film. Likewise, if you too hated the first sequel, this newest entry won’t alter your view of the series. The issues raised previously once again rear their ugly head in the form of the sleazy establishing shot of the main female character, the use of foreigners in the film for demeaning and caricatured jokes, along with the belief that might is always right. Couple these things with pure lapses in logic (a ridiculous scene in Chernobyl) and you’ve another recipe for hi-octane disaster. But is it really all that bad?

 
The plot owes a lot to the original cartoon series, but I won’t go into the specifics. The year is 1961 and a spaceship (with a fan pleasing name) crash lands on the moon, only to be discovered by NASA, who send the Apollo 11 team to investigate. Fast forward to the present day and Sam (LaBeouf) has lost his girlfriend and is looking for a job. For now, the Autobots continue to police the world, while the Decepticons have gone into hiding. Soon the Autobots discover that the military have been hiding evidence of a secret weapon stored on the crashed spaceship and decide to investigate further…

Although this third film in the series is a vast improvement on the second film, that really isn’t much of an endorsement. The film lacks any genuine character interaction and what plot there is becomes completely inert in the last hour. Two elongated action sequences highlight some incredible skydiving and, in pure cartoon fashion, what it’s like to be thrown around a falling skyscraper. It’s visually stunning, and for once, the 3D is actually very convincing, but plot-wise, it’s a complete mess. Just ask yourself this; what is the main antagonist doing during these two moments? What is he waiting for? But this isn’t the worst bit; that is saved for a completely unconvincing exile plot device, which is easily the laziest twist in recent memory.

There are a few minor saving graces, namely the choreography, which, unlike the previous two entries, doesn’t make your brain feel like it has been lobbed into food blender going at ludicrous speed. Also the director’s fetish for showing mechanical parts has been reigned in; we don’t get to see as much robot innards transforming for a protracted length of time; the Transformers simply transform, getting down to the business of being robots or being in disguise. It’s streamlined, but more effective.

There is any number of negatives to throw at this film; overlong, shallow, brainless, exhausting, unoriginal or unfunny etcetera, but when it comes down to opening day, criticism of a film like this is a moot point. If you drooled at the trailer for this film, see it immediately, it’s a hi-octane mêlée par excellence, for everyone else, avoid.